Moycullen ride their luck in a dour low scoring local derby

Date Published: 18-May-2011

Moycullen 0-9

Barna 0-8

STEPHEN GLENNON

AT PEARSE STADIUM

FOUR unanswered points in the final 10 minutes – which included the winner from a Phillip Lydon free two minutes into injury time – secured a depleted Moycullen a precious first round derby victory over an extremely wasteful Barna in this uninspiring senior championship tie at Pearse Stadium on Sunday.

While Moycullen may have garnered the win, the finger pointing in the post match analysis was all in the Barna direction. For the majority of this fixture, they had dominated proceedings, but 13 wides throughout was to cost them dearly.

Indeed, in the second period alone, Barna tallied no less than nine of those wides while Moycullen custodian James Keane took down a plethora of other efforts from underneath his crossbar. Quite simply, it was atrocious marksmanship from a Barna perspective and if the 2010 county semi-finalists are to go on a similar run as last year, then they better start fine tuning the radar.

As for Moycullen, you would have to admire their indomitable spirit. Shorn of the services of so many key players – Paul and Gearóid Clancy, Kieran O’Connor, Donal Byrne, David Wynne, Sean and Gareth Bradshaw and Diarmuid Lee – a lesser team would have been content to be in touch at the end, but not Moycullen. Somehow, they managed to conjure up a result out of nothing.

And it was out of nothing. Although playing with a strong wind, Moycullen trailed their neighbours by five points to four at the change of ends and for the opening 20 minutes of the second period, Padraic Oates’ men were played off the park. In fact, their only attack in this time was a 45th minute point from Martin Maloney, following good work from centre forward Tomas Higgins.

In contrast, Barna were creating chance upon chance and in the first five minutes of the second half they kicked as many wides. True, the misty, windy conditions were at times unforgiving, while the football, for the most part, was like one big bar of soap. But it was the same for both sides.

In any event, from approximately 15 scoring opportunities in the second half – and that is a conservative estimate – Barna kicked just three points, namely two frees from the lively DD Flaherty on 37 and 46 minutes and a superb score from Ray Conneely on 49 minutes.

That proved to be Barna’s last score while Moycullen, sensing there was something to be taken from the game, sprung to life in the closing stages. Lydon hammered over a free on 51 minutes, before he cleverly punched over another point – following hard graft from Pat Lydon and Fergus Kerrigan in the build up – four minutes later.

When Pat Lydon got on the end of a move involving Brian Faherty and Phillip Lydon just moments after to tie up the match, the stitching in Barna’s patchy performance began to unravel uncontrollably. Indeed, from being in a position where they had bossed the contest for long periods, they were now fighting to cling on to a result.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.